I've gotten Appleyards from Holderreads that had dark phase colors, but never anything that comes black. The duckling with the facial stripes is NOT a pure Appleyard color either. Was there an oddball drake around your hens even a month or two before the eggs were set? From what I read they can hold sperm at least a month. I put up Saxony eggs from pure stock this spring and one of them is not the proper color either, she completely lacks the facial stripes a Saxony is supposed to have. I'm at a loss regarding Appleyards myself. The first pair I got years ago from the Holderreads were perfectly colored, gorgeous birds. I got some later and most of them were a darker color that wasn't what I expected, but still Appleyard pattern. I've read since then that they can come darker. Their offspring were about 3/4 dark Appleyard. If you have questions about the color and what you got from them, I would email Dave, he answered some questions for me and was quite helpful - but expect it to take a while, he is very busy.
Also, it is possible for Mallard derivative breeds to mutate colors, that is where all the breeds we have today came from.
Did you buy day olds? Or did you set eggs from pure stock? From your description you bought pure day olds and have no other ducks, set eggs when they grew up and ended up with these oddball colors? Do you have any other ducks at all? Of the three pictured, only the one on the bottom has the distinctive light body and black stripe on the head that I would expect from an Appleyard.
This was my first Silver Appleyard:
There are three Silver Appleyard babies (one week old) in the front of this photo, with a Saxony on the right and some other breeds in the back:
I'm not really sure what to think, but I don't see solid colors or black or wild type as genetics that should be showing up in your ducklings. The Appleyard color is the wild type, except that they have two dominant Restricted pattern genes at the "m" locus (Mallards have two recessives there) that whitens the surface of the wing fronts and slightly lighten overall plumage. (I assume that one of my Appleyards had only one dominant restrictive pattern gene and threw the darker color). They also have two recessives at the "l" locus that cause them to be "Light Phase" instead of "Dark Phase". Dark Phase is the wild Mallard type there. The Light Phase moderately lightens plumage: in drakes it extends claretn onto soulders and sides; sometimes enlarges neck ring. (This is from "Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks".)
Extended black - which extends black through each feather - is incompletely dominant. For you to have a fully black duckling, it would have to get this from both parents and both parents would show some affect of this gene in their own coloring. So, two Silver Appleyards that look like Silver Appleyards could not throw a black duckling, unless it were a mutation that affected BOTH genes at the "e" location. I don't think a Silver Appleyard bred to a black duck would throw a completely black offspring either. The only guess I have is that somehow somebody got to the girls and you just don't know how or who.
As I said, they can hold sperm for as long as a month without much trouble and maybe up to two months. I read on a forum about a gal whose chickens haven't had a rooster in with them for two months and they are still laying fertile eggs!
I hope this helps you a bit.
Also, it is possible for Mallard derivative breeds to mutate colors, that is where all the breeds we have today came from.
Did you buy day olds? Or did you set eggs from pure stock? From your description you bought pure day olds and have no other ducks, set eggs when they grew up and ended up with these oddball colors? Do you have any other ducks at all? Of the three pictured, only the one on the bottom has the distinctive light body and black stripe on the head that I would expect from an Appleyard.
This was my first Silver Appleyard:
There are three Silver Appleyard babies (one week old) in the front of this photo, with a Saxony on the right and some other breeds in the back:
I'm not really sure what to think, but I don't see solid colors or black or wild type as genetics that should be showing up in your ducklings. The Appleyard color is the wild type, except that they have two dominant Restricted pattern genes at the "m" locus (Mallards have two recessives there) that whitens the surface of the wing fronts and slightly lighten overall plumage. (I assume that one of my Appleyards had only one dominant restrictive pattern gene and threw the darker color). They also have two recessives at the "l" locus that cause them to be "Light Phase" instead of "Dark Phase". Dark Phase is the wild Mallard type there. The Light Phase moderately lightens plumage: in drakes it extends claretn onto soulders and sides; sometimes enlarges neck ring. (This is from "Storey's Guide to Raising Ducks".)
Extended black - which extends black through each feather - is incompletely dominant. For you to have a fully black duckling, it would have to get this from both parents and both parents would show some affect of this gene in their own coloring. So, two Silver Appleyards that look like Silver Appleyards could not throw a black duckling, unless it were a mutation that affected BOTH genes at the "e" location. I don't think a Silver Appleyard bred to a black duck would throw a completely black offspring either. The only guess I have is that somehow somebody got to the girls and you just don't know how or who.
As I said, they can hold sperm for as long as a month without much trouble and maybe up to two months. I read on a forum about a gal whose chickens haven't had a rooster in with them for two months and they are still laying fertile eggs!
I hope this helps you a bit.
